A horrified lunch customer of Tijuana's Lo Yen City Restaurant, hearing what appeared to be the helpless yelps of a terrified animal being slaughtered, peered into the back of the restaurant to witness two cooks in the process of killing a defenseless dog.

The shocked customer notified Municipal Police of his macabre discovery and on Wednesday morning, authorities conducted a raid on the restaurant and found a nauseating, almost inconceivable, scene: cooks hurriedly throwing a decapitated dog carcass into a waste bin and the owner himself, Yu Yu Chou, in the process of decapitating and butchering a canine carcass in the alley behind the restaurant.

According to a reports, Chou stated: "I admit to killing the dog, but the meat is for my own personal use, not for my customers." Chou claimed further, "We've had complaints from customers who have found hair, flies or cockroaches in their food, but never anything this serious."

Whether the dog meat was for personal use or not, it is against the law in Mexico to intentionally kill dogs, and it is against the law to slaughter animals of any type in a restaurant establishment.

The restaurant, which claims "home-style food" as its specialty, was immediately shut down and Mr. Chou and five of his workers were taken away to jail in handcuffs. Three of the workers were Chinese nationals.

AFN News Agency's video footage taken at the scene as the raid took place reveals an alleyway strewn with fur and hair; a traumatized dog chained to a wall; and a forensic examiner removing a decapitated dog carcass, stiffened by rigor mortis, out of a kitchen trash bin.

VIDEO: AFN video footage of the raid

The restaurant, which lacked any type of permit, has now had "CLAUSURADO" stickers affixed to its doors. The Animal Control department was seen leaving the scene, although it has not been confirmed if it had rescued any live animals from the restaurant. Samples of meat were also taken from the restaurant's refrigerator so that examiners may run lab tests for evidence concerning its biological source.

Six other Chinese restaurants were shut down by the authorities in the El Rubi area near where the Lo Yen City Restaurant is located, apparently for lacking proper sanitary conditions. One other restaurant had empty dog cages with evidence of dog hair and blood.

Perhaps more tellingly, as word-of-mouth reports gathered steam concerning the police raid, five other Chinese restaurants in the area did not open their doors at all on Wednesday, leading many locals to speculate, to their horror, that dog meat is perhaps a common ingredient in their Chinese cuisine. Or, if nothing else, improper sanitary conditions or permits. Those restaurants that did open have confirmed that business has been slower.

The prosecutor's office has stated that it will be pursuing conviction of Mr. Yu Yu Chou for the crime of animal abuse. While Animal Abuse is not a severe crime, it is punishable by up to two years in jail and fines. The health authority may charge the owner with a separate violation of health norms and laws.

Officials with the National Chamber of the Restaurant Industry (CANIRAC) have called for a thorough investigation in the matter. Other owners of Chinese Restaurants in the city lament at what has happened, and hope that the public treat this as an isolated incident.

Wang Jian, General consul of China in Tijuana, stated in a press conference that there are Chinese people in the city that cook dog meat for personal consumption, and that they generally know that Mexicans don't eat this. He is asking the public to not judge the other restaurants based on this one case.

Throughout social media, users have decried this incident as confirmation that the urban legend "that you are being served dogs and cats" is true, and memes have circulated widely.

At the root of the issue is that it is widely unacceptable in Mexico (both by customs and health laws) to eat dog meat. But what makes people even queasier is the possibility that these dogs were to be passed off onto unsuspecting customers as pork, or chicken.

Baja California has a large Chinese community, specifically in Mexicali, which has a Chinese population estimated at around 5,000 people. The Chinese arrived in this region as workers for the Colorado River Land Company to construct an extensive irrigation system in the Mexicali valley.

While many arrived from the United States escaping Anti-Chinese policies there, many other arrived directly from China and stayed behind after the irrigation project was over, concentrating in the "La Chinesca" Chinatown in Mexicali. In the 1920's, it was estimated that the Chinese population surpassed that of the Mexican population in Mexicali. In Mexicali alone, it is estimated that there are more than 200 Chinese Restaurants.

In China, the use of dog meat varies by region and is a traditional food staple in some. In the city of Yulin, there is an annual dog meat festival that celebrates a tradition that dates back generations to celebrate the summer solstice. Defenders there say that eating dog meat is like eating beef.

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